¤~A Thousand Miles~¤

by Scrat with a G

Prologue

Twelve-year-old Ash laughed as he sprinted ahead, leaving Misty and Brock back at the entrance of the Ilex Forest.

"Pika!" cried Pikachu as he raced alongside.

"Ash, get back here!" Misty screamed.

Ash laughed again, but paused as he heard something.

"Pikachu chu?" questioned Pikachu.

"Shh…" Ash whispered. He stood stock still and held his breath as he listened carefully. It sounded like someone shouting.

"Pi pikachu pika!" cried Pikachu. He pointed down the path.

"Coming from over there? Let's go!"

The two dashed along the path until Ash could decipher what the person was saying. He held still again and listened.

"Help! I'm lost!" the person was shouting. "I'm stuck in the trees! Can anyone hear me? Help!"

"Come on, Pikachu!" Ash cried. Ash and Pikachu ran full speed ahead into the forest, darting around trees and bushes.

Just before Ash was starting to lose hope of finding the person, he spotted a girl sitting on the ground. She was hanging her head, and there was a Pokémon in her lap.

"Excuse me, are you lost?" Ash said. The girl looked up. She smiled and stood up, spilling the Pokémon, an Eevee, onto the ground.

"Yes," she replied. "Eevee ran off, and by the time I caught up to him, we had run way off the path." She walked closer to him. "Can you show us back to the trail?"

"Sure," Ash replied. He turned and started walking back to the path, with the girl at his side. As they walked along, he got a good look at her appearance. She was wearing red pants and a black tank top. Her eyes were green, and she had short red hair… not red like Misty's, but bright, fire-engine red. She looked about a year or two older than Ash, probably about Brock's age. She was decent-looking, but not Ash's type.

"Thanks for helping me," the girl said once they reached the path. She smiled at him, then turned and walked away. The Eevee bounced along beside her.

Ash scratched his head as she walked off.

"Weird girl," he muttered.

"Pi chu," Pikachu agreed.

Just then, Misty and Brock walked up.

"Who was that, Ash?" Misty asked. Ash was definitely pleased to hear a pang of jealousy in her tone.

"It was a girl, wasn't it?" Brock begged anxiously. "What was her name? Did you get her number?"

"No, Brock. I don't know who that was," Ash replied. "I don't know." Ash sighed and the three continued on their journey.